CBS owned-and-operated stations in Boston and Chicago will begin implementing Sony's high-definition XDCAM Professional Disc system in March. The other 15 stations in the CBS family will begin converting to XDCAM HD throughout 2006 and 2007.

CBS Television East Coast Operations senior vice president Bob Ross said XDCAM HD provides a “strong foundation" that future-proofs CBS station newsgathering and production workflow. XDCAM HD will let stations migrate to high definition at their own pace, he said.

In October 2005, CBS News began acquiring and accepting content using the Sony optical system, streamlining news operations and production workflow. CBS stations using the technology should see similar productivity enhancements, said Ross.